The UPA government?s flagship Bharat Nirman programme, which includes road connectivity, housing and rural electrification, and which is aimed at the socio-economic development of the masses, has failed to achieve much in India?s Naxal heartland?Chhattisgarh.
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the road connectivity programme under Bharat Nirman, has been able to achieve just about 45% of its target to connect villages having a population above 1,000 people and tribal villages with a population of over 500 people.
Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi said that implementation of the scheme as well as other components of Bharat Nirman will miss the 2009 deadline and would be completed by March 2010 or even later. The completion of road projects in about 124 tribal villages would take much longer, as the government is unable to attract many construction contractors.
Though the quality of roads constructed were good, particularly due to the monitoring done both at the national and state levels, Chaturvedi, in his report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, pointed that the provision for maintenance of the roads for five years by the same contractors has not been able to achieve much. The security deposit of 10% of the funds for the up-keep of the roads is very low and contractors prefer to lapse this amount. He has sought a review of the provision.
Chaturvedi has also asked for changes in the specifications for roads in the state so that they can handle the movement of heavy-duty traffic, as it is a mining area. This issue is under the consideration of the rural development ministry as similar concerns were raised by other mineral-rich states like Orissa and Jharkhand.
Regarding the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), the former Cabinet secretary said that though Chhattisgarh is power surplus, with 97% village electrification, it does not have enough infrastructure to implement the RGGVY, aimed at providing electricity to families below the poverty line (BPL). The state has entrusted Central public sector units like NHPC and PowerGrid to implement the programme and so far, only 1.22 lakh BPL families have been covered under the RGGVY. In another eight districts like Raipur, Korba, Bilaspur and Raigarh, the work is yet to commence.
Regarding the performance of the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme, the member felt that introduction of IT-based systems would help ensure effective monitoring of the programme as well as wages and funds. Some panchayats in the state had at least Rs 1.50 crore lying with them for NREG. ?Such large funds require good accounting and monitoring set up and utilisation of resources for creating durable assets,? Chaturvedi said, adding that the NREG has evolved into a ?demand-driven programme?. 22.94 lakh households were employed during 2007 -08 and the wage rate was Rs 72 per day. The expenditure during the last fiscal was Rs 1,401.83 crore, 92.37% of the available fund of Rs 1,517.55 crore.
Under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), the irrigation potential created during 2007-08 was just 36,270 hectares against a target of 10,590 hectares. The Chhattisgarh government has asked for a waiver of the net present value condition for the Fifth Schedule area, particularly for minor projects, raising the AIBP ceiling to Rs 392 crore from Rs 187 crore and extending the completion deadline for minor projects to 3 years.
Naxal violence in the country had claimed over 800 lives in 2006, with maximum number of deaths reported in Chhattisgarh. Almost 1,400 people were killed in Naxal violence in 2007. According to estimates, Naxal activities now cover 30% of the country, up from 9% in 2002.